CHESTERTOWN, MD – The Haverford College volleyball team (20-8, 8-1 CC) won a thrilling five set match (24-26, 25-23, 25-14, 23-25, 15-13) over the Washington College Shorewomen (18-9, 2-7 CC) on Wednesday night at the Cain Athletic Center.
With the victory, the Fords have won 20 matches for the third consecutive season. Should Haverford defeat Swarthmore on Saturday, it would host the Centennial Conference tournament.
The turning point of the first set was when the Shorewomen rallied for three straight points to tie the score at 23. Despite holding leads of 24-23 and 25-24, Haverford could not come up with a first set victory. The Fords had 11 errors in the first stanza and registered an attack percentage of .000.
The visitors cleaned up their offense in the second set, tallying a .378 attack percentage. After falling behind 14-13, the Fords scored three straight points to take a 16-14 advantage. Washington College tied the score three more times, but Haverford took the final three points.
The only set not decided by two points, the Fords had just four errors in their set three victory. Sophomore Valentine Courouble, who set a career-high with 11 kills in the match, led Haverford with four kills in the set.
The Fords seemed on their way to win the match in four sets, but the home team had other plans. With Haverford up 18-11, Washington College went on a 11-0 run to take a 22-18 lead. Head coach Michele Benoit's squad cut the deficit to one at 24-23, but an attack error sent the match to a deciding fifth set.
Down 8-3 in the fifth set, the Shorewomen scored six straight points to jump in front 9-8. Tied at 13, junior Elena Garcia's kill gave the Fords a 14-13 lead and junior Meg O'Day's kill put the stamp on the exciting victory. The final set featured five ties and five lead changes.
Haverford had a season-high 70 kills in the win. Three Fords had over 10 kills led by O'Day's 20. The junior had six of her kills in the fifth set and has recorded at least 20 kills in four matches this season.
Junior Keri Godbe recorded her sixth straight double-double with 14 kills and 15 digs. Courouble was just one dig shy of a double-double and had three block assists. Freshman Zoe Wong set a new career-high with 28 assists while junior Olivia Walsh added 25 assists in the victory. The Fords had six players with at least 10 digs.
The end of the 2014 regular season will be Saturday at Swarthmore. The de facto first place match is scheduled for 1 p.m.